Fuel Elsa's Space Dream: Internation Space University!

Elsa Lange is organizing this fundraiser.

Donation protected

Hello everyone,

My name is Elsa Lange, and I am a final-year mechanical engineering student at the University of Ottawa. I set up this GoFundMe to help me fund my journey to the International Space University’s Space Studies Program in Seoul, South Korea, in summer 2025. I have to cover 10,000 €, which is about $15,000 Canadian dollars for tuition, plus $3,000 Canadian dollars for flights. I eagerly applied to this program for multiple reasons that I’ll explain below. After receiving my acceptance letter on January 13 at 5:43 am EST, I eagerly told everyone I knew.

Figure 1: My acceptance letter to ISU SSP25

As someone who did not always know they wanted to work in the aerospace industry, being accepted into the ISU SSP25 is a huge step in my career as an aerospace engineer. From a young age, I have always been an intellectually curious person and had an interest in many different topics, with space being one of them. While space had always been on my radar, I decided to first try the marine and nuclear industry through my university’s co-op program.

Figure 2: A ship I visited during my co-op at the Canadian Coast Guard

Figure 3: Another view of the ship

After feeling unsatisfied with the industries I was working in, I decided to finally look into the aerospace industry. As I was researching, I stumbled upon the Zenith Canada Fellowship. I applied for the program in a 12-hour haze, and to my surprise, they selected me for an interview and later chose me as a fellow in the Class of 2024.

Figure 4: Participating in the Zenith summit in July 2024

Figure 5: Dinner with the rest of the class of 2024

Zenith has helped kickstart my career in the aerospace industry in many ways. I have attended aerospace conferences such as Spacebound and Horizons, where I have met astronauts and the president of the Canadian Space Agency.

Figure 5: Meeting Jeremy Hansen, the first Canadian astronaut we are sending to the moon, at Spacebound 2024

Figure 6: Meeting Lisa Campbell, the president of the Canadian Space Agency

They also helped me connect with the people at Mission Control Space Services, an aerospace company here in Ottawa, Ontario. Thanks to Zenith, I’ve gotten my first experience working in the aerospace industry and get to spend time in the moonyard every workday!

Figure 7: Mission Control Space Services's Moonyard during Space Canada's Horizons Conference

In my personal life I enjoy playing board games, being in nature, and playing and watching soccer. You can find me on campus participating in an extracurricular event and making new friends along the way.